While shorthand is seen as vital for journalists in the UK, in North American newsrooms it is said to be far less common

It is the time of year when potential journalism students across
the UK are weighing up offers from different courses and deciding
which is right for them.

For the vast majority
shorthand is something they will have seen people use while on
work experience, but have never learned themselves.

Whether or not a course offers shorthand is used by many as a
benchmark, with the
NCTJ identifying the industry standard as 100 words per minute
(wpm).

But with the rise of digital technologies, where does shorthand fit
into the toolkit of the modern journalist?

Is it still the most important skill to have, or are editors and
news editors beginning to prioritise other skills?

Cardiff University trainees Andrew Curry, Alex Bywater and
Emily Davies all agree shorthand was one of the key skills they had
learned while studying, and for Bywater and Davies it had been a
priority when considering where to apply.

Davies told Journalism.co.uk: "I only considered courses which
offered shorthand, as I knew it would be something employers would
look for."

"Aside from that, in previous jobs and on work experience I found I
was struggling to take down interviews accurately and to sustain a
normal-sounding conversation when I was trying to take notes in
longhand, so I knew it would make my life easier in the long
run."

Bywater added: "Shorthand is part of NCTJ accredited courses, which
was an important factor for me in choosing where to study."

"It's a skill I think is very important and one I feel I needed to
learn. However, I believe the core skills of being able to write
clean and concise copy and being creative in your writing are more
important."

The NCTJ told Journalism.co.uk they still regard shorthand as being
a fundamental skill for all journalists, so it remains a compulsory
part of their Diploma in Journalism qualification.

A spokesman said the NCTJ is regularly told by employers how
valuable shorthand is, and point to the vast majority of job
postings for trainee journalists requiring 100 wpm shorthand as
evidence of this.

Alison Gow, editor of the
Daily Post, told Journalism.co.uk she was less sure shorthand
was as vital as it used to be and suggested with the increased
emphasis on liveblogging and tweeting from major events, the
ability to touch-type a verbatim quote was becoming just as
important as the ability to take it down in shorthand.

She said: "If a reporter is liveblogging a council meeting or sat
in court, typing up in real time, would they need a shorthand note?
Their notes are on the screen, after all.

"Possibly they wouldn't have time to liveblog and take a shorthand
note if they were concentrating on the proceedings – most
journalists who live-tweet in court are sat there in addition to
another reporter who is taking a shorthand note of the
proceedings.

"That may work for the nationals – and for the really standout
moments of a major regional trial – but most daily regional papers
can't commit that kind of resource.

"Something has to slip and if we are moving more towards
convergence then I would see liveblogging as more important."

This view was recently echoed by Andy Dickinson, course leader for
the BA digital journalism production programme at the
University of Central Lancashire. Discussing the topic on
Twitter earlier this month he argued there were lots of good
reasons to have shorthand, but no single compelling reason that it
was a must have.

Outside of the UK shorthand is not taught as standard, which the
recent discussion on Twitter attributed to the historical ban on
recording devices in UK courts and many public meetings, which was
not reflected around the world.

Hey @digidickinson, in Canada we
don't learn shorthand in J-school. Can't say I missed it. Do you
think it's a necessary skill?

Even though recording devices are now allowed in many courts and
meetings, the efficiency and legal protection a good shorthand note
offers was the explanation given most often for why editors still
value shorthand so highly.

Paul Rowland, news editor at
Media Wales, told Journalism.co.uk: "Personally, I would put
every bit as much value in a good shorthand note as an audio
recording, providing the shorthand was clear and legible.

"Anecdotally, lawyers are tending to prefer audio recordings as
evidence in legally contentious cases these days, but as long as
the law is happy that a shorthand note carries weight in court, so
am I."

The ease with which shorthand can be used while out and about in
the community was also cited by practising journalists as to why
they valued their shorthand so highly.

Reliability is also seen an important factor. It
seems every journalist has or knows of a horror story where a
journalist has relied on technology to record an important
interview, only to come to the end and realise the battery has died
or the device has failed to record properly.

Rowland said this was why shorthand will "always be crucial for
journalists".

"I always remember a couple of years ago a reporter coming to tell
me about a great interview they'd just done over the phone, only to
return crestfallen a couple of minutes later to tell me the
recording had failed. Having not taken any shorthand notes as
back-up, he was left with no choice but to conduct the whole
interview again."

Despite valuing other skills just as highly, Gow told
Journalism.co.uk if she was a trainee now she would still make sure
she had her shorthand due to the number of editors who will not
consider candidates without it.

As an editor, she said she preferred job applicants to have a
shorthand qualification.

"It tells me they can apply themselves to learn new skills and
commit to quite lengthy processes to gain an outcome. That sort of
attitude is itself a transferable skill.

"However, I wouldn't automatically discount someone who didn't have
100 wpm shorthand if they demonstrated other skills – online
community management, for example, or had video skills, or a
hyperlocal blog."

Rowland stressed that when he was looking at applicants for
reporting positions shorthand was still an essential requirement
and he would not consider a candidate without it.

"If they had no shorthand at all, definitely not. If an applicant
hadn't got 100 wpm, but was considered to be close, they'd have a
chance. But it would certainly count against them."

For next year’s trainees and beyond there is no doubt amongst those
surveyed that shorthand is a fundamental skill and will continue to
be so.

As long as editors continue to value it, it will continue to be a
compulsory part of the NCTJ syllabus and a skill the majority of
newspaper journalists would struggle to be without.

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